fortitude

English

Etymology

From Middle English fortitude, from Old French, from Latin fortitūdō (“bravery, strength”), from fortis (“brave, strong”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈfɔːtɪtjuːd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: for‧ti‧tude

Noun

fortitude (countable and uncountable, plural fortitudes)

1. Mental or emotional strength that enables courage in the face of adversity.

   Synonyms: inner strength, moxie, mettle, resolve, intestinal fortitude, toughness

   • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 223, column 1:

     I am able now (me thinkes) / (Out of a Fortitude of Soule, I feele) / To endure more Miſeries, […]

   • c. 1794, Jane Austen, “[Lady Susan.] I. Lady Susan Vernon to Mr. Vernon.”, in J[ames] E[dward] Austen[-]Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen: […] to which is Added Lady Susan and Fragments of Two Other Unfinished Tales by Miss Austen, 2nd edition, London: Richard Bentley and Son, […], published 1871, →OCLC, pages 203–204:

     I shall soon have need for all my fortitude, as I am on the point of separation from my own daughter.

   • 1904–1906, Joseph Conrad, “The Grip of the Land”, in The Mirror of the Sea, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, published October 1906, →OCLC, page 123:

     She [the ship] may be saved by your efforts, by your resource and fortitude bearing up against the heavy weight of guilt and failure.

   • 2012 January 30, Fareed Zakaria, “The Strategist”, in Time‎, archived from the original on 26 July 2012:

     Mitt Romney […] charges that [Barack] Obama is an appeaser who apologizes for America, lacks fortitude and is "tentative, indecisive, timid and nuanced."

   • 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A Passenger’s History of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 267:

     The proper fans might also expend time—about twenty hours—trying to visit every Tube station as quickly as possible. […] But to visit every station in record time—which people have been attempting since at least 1960—requires real fortitude. You must get up before dawn, you must drink or eat almost nothing, so niggardly is the Underground with toilet provision.

2. (archaic) Physical strength.
   • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragœdy of Othello, the Moore of Venice. […] (First Quarto), London: […] N[icholas] O[kes] for Thomas Walkley, […], published 1622, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], page 15:

     The Turke with moſt mighty preparation makes for Cipres. Othello, the fortitude of the place, is beſt knowne to you, […]

   • 1695, [William] Congreve, Love for Love: A Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act II, scene i, page 17:

     Hey day! VVhat are all the VVomen of my Family abroad? Is not my Wife come home? Nor my Siſter, nor my Daughter? […] Mercy on us, what can be the meaning of it? Sure the Moon is in all her Fortitudes; […]

Derived terms

• intestinal fortitude
• testicular fortitude

Related terms

• forte
• fortify
• fortitudinous

Translations

mental or emotional strength

Armenian: please add this translation if you can Bulgarian: твърдост (bg) f (tvǎrdost), сила на духа (sila na duha) Chinese: Mandarin: 刚毅 (zh) (gāngyì), 坚韧 (zh) (jiānrèn) Czech: síla ducha f, pevná vůle f Dutch: taaiheid (nl) f, geesteskracht f, volharding (nl) f, volhardendheid f, vastberadenheid (nl) f, innerlijke kracht f Esperanto: animforto Estonian: please add this translation if you can Finnish: mielenlujuus, lujuus (fi), luonteenlujuus French: fortitude (fr) f Galician: fortaleza (gl) f Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: innere Kraft (de) f, innere Stärke (de) f, Standhaftigkeit (de) f Greek: σθένος (el) n (sthénos), γενναιότητα (el) f (gennaiótita) Ancient Greek: please add this translation if you can Hungarian: lelkierő (hu) Italian: coraggio (it) m forza (it) f, fortezza (it) f Khmer: ចិត្តអត់ធ្មត់ (cət ʼɑt thmŭət) Latin: fortitudo (la) Maori: manawaroa, niwha, koromaki Plautdietsch: Browheit f Polish: hart (pl) m Russian: си́ла духа f (síla duxa) Sicilian: forza (scn) f Spanish: fortaleza (es) f, fortitud (es) f (disused) Swedish: tapperhet (sv) Turkish: metanet (tr), sebat (tr) Ukrainian: си́ла ду́ху f (sýla dúxu), му́жність f (múžnistʹ)

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French [Term?], borrowed from Latin fortitūdō (“bravery, strength”), from fortis (“brave, strong”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɔʁ.ti.tyd/

Noun

fortitude f (plural fortitudes)

1. (literary) fortitude

Related terms

• fort
• fortifier

Further reading

• “fortitude”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.